p.m. eastern. the correspondents' dinner may be a sceevie thing in person but on tv you get the best of it. the president is always funny, the comic is always funny. it will be tomorrow night right here live 9:00 p.m. eastern. don't miss it. "weekends with alex witt" starts now. developing now, new and deadly battles in ukraine and the u.s. delivers another warning to russia. a live report ahead. the woman at the center of the donald sterling debacle now says he is not a racist. the role she's playing in his life today. what led to one woman's gutt feeling that in the end prevented a teen's potential gun mele and massacre. the backstory behind her 911 call. it's called the most exciting two minutes in sports. the kentucky derby. dylan dreyer reports on america's biggest horse race set to run in just hours.

and good morning, everyone. welcome to weekends with alex bit. witt. i'm richard lui. the deadliest day in months in the ukraine. at least 42 are dead as protests broke out. pro russian separatists and government supporters clashed in the streets and threw firebombs and stones as riot police attempted to suppress the flairup. in a statement this morning a spokesman for russian president vladimir putin claimed that the new government in kiev was a direct participant in the violence in odessa. there was some good news today that pro russian separatists have released the european military observers who were kidnapped eight days ago. we're in eastern ukraine with the latest. >> reporter: the authorities here in ukraine insist that

their offensive to try to regain control on the part of the eastern control of the country is not over. despite a day of set backs in which they lost men and at least two helicopters and in which the battle ground to a halt, they say this morning they renewed the attack on the town which is just short of the separatist held strong hold of slavyansk, their target. if they tend to press that battle to conclusion, from what we know of the defenses in slavyansk, it could be very bloody, indeed. all the while the world is reacting in horror to the death toll yesterday in the southern port city of odessa, 500 miles west of here. crowds of pro and anti-ukrainians fought running battles in the street ending up with a major building burning down killing possibly 30 people, maybe more. most of them pro russians. of course, that raises the specter of how moscow and

president putin is going to react. he has claimed repeatedly the right to intervene and defense of ethnic russians here in the ukraine. he has the tanks to do it, the question is whether he will see this as an opportunity. >> james mates, thank you for the opportunity. joining us from the white house, kristen welker. amongst the back drop of the violence we're seeing and a real spark as has been reported, president obama, german chancellor angela merkel, they met yesterday. they were watching that very carefully. what came of that meeting? >> reporter: well, there were some significant developments, richard. president obama, german chancellor angela merkel announcing that they had agreed to move forward with sectoral sanctions if it continues to worsen after the may 25th election. i don't anticipate that we will see any new sanctions prior to that, but that is the date that you want to be watching for.

so essentially another stern warning to russia. now the reason why this is significant, richard, is because there had been deep divisions between the united states and its european partners about this issue of sectoral sanctions. the u.s. wanted to move forward with them. european partners were hesitant because of course their economies are so tightly linked to russia's economy, particularly when it comes to the issue of energy. interestingly, when president obama was listing the various sectors of russia's economy that could be sanctioned, he didn't talk about the energy sector so that is something to be looking for as well. but, again, another stern warning coming out of that meeting that president obama had with german chancellor angela merkel yesterday. richard. >> kristen, as you're looking forward and you're talking about how they're together on sec to recall sanctions, we have to look back as well and there are some tensions that were still in the air a bit. tell us about that. >> reporter: absolutely. tensions over the revelations of the nsa spying program. of course this is something that

infuriated german chancellor angela merkel. yesterday president obama tried to say that there had been great progress but also acknowledged that they're still working to smooth over the differences and the frustrations that were created in the wake of the revelations by edward snowden. here's what president obama and lang merkeling had to sa-- necm had to say. >> we had a few difficulties. this is why there's going to be a dialogue between our two countries and this is also why there needs to be and will have to be more than just business as usual. >> reporter: now in the wake of the snowden revelations president obama banned spying on world leaders. berlin has been pushing for a no spy agreement but the u.s. says they don't have that type of

agreement with any country. richard, back to you. >> kristen welker live at the white house. thank you. now to chilling new details emerging about the foiled bomb plot and shooting. officials say if it were not for a tip from concerned local resident, one specifically, they may not have been able to stop ladue's deadly plan. nbc news's pete williams has the story. good morning, pete. >> richard, good morning. some parents of school children have started sending flowers to one of their fellow residents, a woman who was doing one of her evening chores on tuesday and set in motion a chain of events that police say averted a potentially dangerous attack. >> chelsea schelhaus of wauseka, minnesota, said she was doing her dishes and she awe a young man enter a storage unit. thinking it looked suspicious, she called 911. >> the fact that he was sitting here struggling for ten minutes

trying to open the storage unit, something didn't feel right about it. >> police say the 17-year-old they found inside, john david ladue, was in the final stages of planning a deadly attack on his own school. >> he intended to set off numerous bombs during the lunch hour, kill the school resource officer as he responded to help, set fires and shoot students and staff. >> reporter: in court documents investigators say ladue obtained seven guns and built six working bombs. members of the bomb squad they said were shocked by the amount of bomb-making chemicals and components he amassed. police say ladue had been planning his attack for nine months recording how he set off practice bombs in march near the play grouped of an elementary school. they say his plan was to shoot and kill his sister at home, light a fire nearby to distract first responders, set off the bombs at school and shoot students as they fled. >> the information has been revealed indicates that we have escaped what could have been a horrific experience.

>> reporter: investigators say ladue was ready to carry out the attack within the next two weeks and they say they might have if not for a woman who happened to be looking out her window at the right moment. grateful parents have started sending her flowers. >> thank you whoever sent them. they're very beautiful. >> reporter: for now ladue is being held in juvenile detention but the state has filed legal papers to have him moved into adult court. richard? >> pete williams, thank you so much for that report. at the half hour we will hear more from the woman who made that 911 call and talked to reporters with more details about the plot. now to the woman at the center of the firestorm surrounding l.a. clippers owner donald sterling telling abc's barbara walters she believes he is not a racist. v.stiviano was originally on the tapes arguing with the 80-year-old when he made racially charged remarks. she's now coming to his defense. >> is donald sterling a racist? >> no, i don't believe it in my

heart. >> have you heard him saying derogatory things about minorities in general, blacks in particular? >> absolutely. >> you've heard him seder rog tori things? >> yes. >> don't they sound racist to you? >> i think the things he says are not what he feels. anyone can say anything in the heat of the moment. >> alleged racist remarks -- >> well, stiviano goes on to say sterling is from a, quote, different generation and she did not take his comments about blacks and other minorities to be racist there. in dujour magazine, sterling is speaking out saying, quote, i wish i just paid her off. sterling's statements led to the nba giving him a lifetime ban and $2.5 million fine. later we'll talk with a sports attorney about the legal strategy sterling might take to avoid selling his team. stick around for that. a potentially deadly virus

has reached the u.s. for the first time. an infected patient lies isolated in good condition with a deadly middle east respiratory syndrome or mrs. the man recently traveled to saudi arabia. health officials are trying to find out if he had contact with anyone. the general population is not at risk. >> there has not been a clear case of person-to-person transmission outside of the health care setting yet so i think we need to keep this in perspective. >> there is no specific treatment, cure, or vaccination for this virus. experts saying it is not as contagious as influenza. we have more rain expected in florida today. neighborhoods do not need it certainly. streets and cars remain submerged in tampa following heavy rain falling friday. many found the only way they could get around was to walk through the flood waters themselves. up north an ice tsunami of sorts for those living in michigan's upper peninsula, the

u.p. the winds pushing ice farther in more than usual. some of it stacking up alongside homes. >> for the 30 years we've been here we've never seen the icebergs and the ice come inasmuch as it has this year. this year, like i said, it's almost like a winter tsunami. >> we're in may. for more on the forecast the weather channel's ray stagic is here. >> good morning. this tornado outbreak we had was saved by that rain in florida. this could have spread further east but that rain shut it off. the areas may be under the gun again. mayflower, tupelo and into mississippi and arkansas respectively. this is later in the week. the next chance of possibly seeing some severe weather. as we go through tomorrow in the northeast, we have damp weather. unfortunately more cool weather coming in. most of the showers tonight, tomorrow, new york, boston, the

rain totals less than a quarter inch. the warmth will come in. the jet goes north, the mild temperatures come on in from atlanta off towards charlotte and down into places like mobile and jacksonville. this is where we had all of that flooding rain. 20 inches of rain in two days in pensacola. dry weather. the cleanup will be able to continue. the heavy rain out across parts of florida, heavy rain coming into tampa as we speak. little noise, thunder, fire, looks like a slow drive around. then let's get into louisville here for the kentucky derby. beautiful weather, sprinkles off to the east. we have great weather in the forecast as the satellite picture andrey dar showing plenty of clear sky around. beautiful day in churchill downs. just a few clouds around. here's what it looks like at 8:00 in the morning, 50s, 60s, for post time temperatures in the 70s. >> ray, that is perfect to hang out in the infield, no doubt. >> beautiful weather. thank you, sir. from tattoos to knowing your

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there are reports now that speaker boehner is preparing to create a special select committee to look into benghazi. is that something you have talked to him about at all? just what is your reaction to that? >> that would be news to me. i've not had any -- i have not been informed by the speaker of his plans to establish such a commission, is it? benghazi is such a very sad event, more than event, a tragedy, and for the exploitation of it to be just

never ending by the republicans is really hard to understand. >> all right. that was house minority leader nancy pelosi speaking with my colleague steve kornacki about the latest benghazi allegations. joining us is chicago sun times washington bureau chief, lynn sweet and ed o'keefe. thank you for joining us on a saturday. lynn, we'll start with you here. this latest benghazi revival comes over the e-mails we've been discussing just released by the administration that republicans claim show that the white house tried to rewrite the attack. when you look at the debate that's ensuing here as they have put out the request here to bring in secretary of state john kerry and who else they might issue subpoenas for, is this about 2014? because we're just really months away from the election. >> richard, yes, it's about 2014, it's about 2016 and it's about building a -- two cases now that the republicans want to relitigate because it's not like we haven't been around this movie for years now.

they not only want to talk about what's in this newly revealed e-mail, they also want to -- you hear terms like they're obstructing, they're not releasing. the white house doesn't want you to know so there are those two channels though certainly the white house said they wished they had released this e-mail earlier because they say it doesn't say anything they haven't been saying publicly. that's what it is about, yes, politics. >> politics 2014, 2016. ed, to you on this very same issue. the possibility this has been talked about that former secretary of state hillary clinton might be asked to either by the select committee or darrell issa's committee as well, if she is there put in front and questioned, what might be said and how might this hurt her should she run in 2016? >> well, that's one of the biggest sort of issues out there outstanding regarding her tenure as secretary of state. so certainly if it comes to that, you know, we'll have to see whether or not she is

willing to engage and take it on. she did testify a few times regarding this and seemed to hold up her end of the bargain. >> right. >> and didn't really sully her image that much or damage her approval rating so we'll see whether or not she's willing to engage. remember, her book is coming out next month where it's expected she'll discuss this a little bit. >> it's a year now, a year and a half if she were to run she'll get into it. it's kind of early perhaps to be bringing her in front of congress, would you say? >> yeah. in fact, you know, maybe she thinks, you know what, if they really want me to come and do this, let's do it and get it out of the way so i can just go run for president. but let's just remind people, you've got this new select committee on benghazi, you have the house oversight committee already looking into the issue. the other thing that came up on friday is house majority leader, eric cantor, called on the justice department to hire a special prosecutor to look into the problems at the irs. lynn, i don't know about you, but i didn't hear much talk

about obamacare. it seems they have shifted to these other issues. there are legitimate concerns that the administration is withholding information and not necessarily telling congress everything, but this is definitely part of 2014 strategy and beyond. >> so are you saying here then, and to you, lynn, on this, they're shifting gears, republicans are, thinking that, okay, obamacare, it's a win for democrats because they hit their numbers and polling is starting to turn up and go positive. lynn? >> i think there's a few things here. in the house they have to worry district by district. they have members with primaries. 32 states have had their primaries by now, so what they're doing is i think they're just doing -- they're putting out issues. they're reviving benghazi, not that it -- you know, everyone should know, the issue deserves serious inquiry. >> absolutely. >> there has been a lot of serious inquiries on it. >> does it resonate in those key states that you've been watching, lyn, and ed here, when it comes down to the senate? because that's where the fight

is for '14? >> right. these are three key issues for republicans. it doesn't hurt to keep all three of those in play at one time to see what works in these different states and districts. >> go ahead. >> i want to move to this subject. as we were looking at what happened this past week and that botched oklahoma lethal injection, the president or, rather, at a press conference yesterday, president obama received a question about that lethal injection. i want you to take a listen to this first. >> this situation in oklahoma i think just highlights some of the significant problems there so i'll be discussing with eric holder and others, you know, to get me an analysis of what steps have been taken, not just in this particular instance but more broadly, in this area. i think we do have to as a

society ask ourselves some difficult and profound questions around these issues. >> and with the justice department now getting involved in this, where might this go? >> well, you know, this is an issue primarily up to the states. we sent my colleague down to oklahoma and the people say, you know, this guy deserved it and they have no real wavering support or concern about the death penalty. the problem is a logistical one. some of the drugs that have been used in the lethal injection executions aren't available. states are having to think about how they would consider carrying these out. virginia was thinking of the electric chair and some anesthesiologists say that might be a better remedy. there seemed to be so many problems with lethal injection and the shortage of drugs. state by state this will be worked out. at the federal level there is a death penalty and there are people awaiting death penalties,

but certainly a conversation and a review of the current practice, probably not a bad idea. >> lynn, i want to get to some of the numbers that you watched from our latest wall street journal msnbc poll that came out. beyond the usual political data, there were some interesting questions about how society has changed over the last 15 years. for instance, the number of households where at least one person has a tattoo has nearly doubled since 1999 to 40%. i know you're watching that, lynn. i know it's very important to you. almost unchanged though is how many people say they know their neighbors, about 70%. probably most important for you and ed, i'm afraid to say that the number of people who read a print newspaper three times a week has fallen from 79% to 47%. lynn, what do you think of all of these developments, shall we say? if you want to start with the tattoo, you can do that. >> actually, i have a cousin who i love dearly who has many tattoos and you just roll with -- you live in the times that you live in.

and the other number, yes, about newspaper readers, ed, i know we bemoan don't read the print, people are hungry for news. that's always good. we're in a tough business that's trying to adapt. so the -- maybe there's a tattoo newspaper reading correlation we can get into t. what do you think? >> we'll take readers whether they have tattoos or not. the entire industry is adjusting to this, television as well. i know you guys certainly have your challenges. it's important to do those kinds of polls every once in a while because it's a good reminder for those of us who track this. >> i don't have a tattoo, ed. do you, richard? >> what we'll do is we'll tease forward to your next segment that you will show us your tattoos. >> no, i don't have one. >> lynn, you're not supposed to answer that. you're supposed to -- >> that's a tease for next time. >> maybe i'll get one by them. >> get a temporary one. lynn, ed, thank you so much. you guys have a good saturday.

>> take care, richard. the next move in the legal fight to strip donald sterling in his ownership of the clippers. is there one legal maneuver that could save the team for him? [male announcer] ortho crime files. disturbing the pantry. a house, under siege. say helto home defense max. kills bugs inside and prevents new ones for up to a year. ortho home defense max. get order. get ortho®. intercourse that's painfulit... due to menopausal changes. the problem isn't likely to go away... ...on its own. so it's time we do something about it. and there's help. premarin vaginal cream. a prescription that does what no over-the-counter product was designed to do. it provides estrogens to help rebuild vaginal tissue and make intercourse more comfortable. premarin vaginal cream treats vaginal changes due to menopause and moderate-to-severe painful intercourse caused by these changes.

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i think i can use this. it picks up everything. i like this. that's a lot of dirt. it's that easy! good job chris! i think a woman will probably come your way. [ both laugh ] headlines, back to work, car talk and spending spree. joining us now "usa today" contributor regina lewis. good morning to you. let's start to back to work and those great job numbers. but, of course, a lot of people have apparently left the work force at the same time. >> yeah. that's one of the reasons that we're seeing a six year low for the unemployment rate at 6.3%. leaving the work force speaks to participation rates. when you are faced with the end of your benefits, then you kind of have a okay no-go decision. am i going back to work? if at that point you decide not to you're no longer unaccounted

for. 10,000 baby boomers retiring every day. what people like about the job numbers is they were broad based across industry. you saw it across the demographic side. particularly good news with african-americans. the lowest unemployment rate. granted, it's still joblessness for whites at 11 point poip 6%. that's the lowest since 2008. >> good numbers there. let's move on to another issue related to the economy, not only the jobs report. big ticket items, if i can say that, car sales. domestic and foreign. the highest since the mid 2000s. i'm a big car guy. i love to see this. >> yeah, well, up 8%. really amazing. in fact, if it stays on pace, this year car sales and light trucks could top 16 million, which would be the first time since 2007. most analysts say don't hold your breath on that. that could be a bit of a long shot because there's pent up demand. in much of the country you weren't going to buy a car in

february when they were digging it out. a lot of consumers say i don't want a new detail, the snow and the potholes. i didn't want to trash it. >> 16 million, reminds me of the '80s. finally, adding to this trifecta, consumer spending. >> yeah, the fastest pace in five years. i think same phenomenon. so if retail numbers, for instance, were deflated before, perhaps they're inflated. i know it's a controversial topic, but health care is up. what's the first thing you do, you go to the doctor and the dentist. we saw some of that as well. >> one word response. what does this mean about the economy? >> i think it's a spring surge. i think on the heels of poor housing numbers, i shudder to think how bad it would be if the numbers weren't strong. relief would be one word. >> that's the biggest one-word answer i've ever heard. regina lewis, thank you so much. >> sure. they are in the running. who is the horse to beat in today's kentucky derby? first, the first jewel of the

triple crown by the numbers and now this news. ♪ ♪

welcome back to "weekends with alex witt." i'm richard lui in for alex this morning. she saw something and said something. this morning a minnesota woman is credited with foiling what could have been a devastating attack. police say a 17-year-old boy had been plotting for months to kill his family and then his school classmates but it was a woman who noticed something odd who helped tip police off to a disaster waiting to happen. >> he didn't look like a young boy. he didn't look like he just got done with school and the fact that he was sitting here struggling for ten minutes trying to open the storage unit.

something didn't feel like about it. >> joining me is janice schortle who's been covering it for kare. thanks for joining us this morning. so really interesting conversation that you had with this woman who tipped off the police. what's the latest you know today about the suspect and the alleged plot? >> well, we know the suspect this morning is in a community called redwing juvenile detention. that woman had an inkling something was wrong. she lives maybe 50 feet from the storage unit. i don't know what made her call 911 other than that inkling. we were just talking about it at the studio. thank goodness she did. she just had that suspicion that something wasn't right so she made that call. >> and so what made -- what did she say and how did she describe who this kid is? >> well, she lives very close to this storage unit. she said she didn't recognize

him. the town is 10,000 people. she knew something was wrong. he looked funny. he couldn't get in the door. he couldn't open the door. he had a backpack. he kept coming and going. it was actually her friend holley who said to her, maybe you should call 911, because she thought about going out and confronting him saying, hey, what are you doing here? they decided to call police. police show up at the storage unit and they find half of what was his arsenal. >> quite a circumstance she was in as she was just washing her dishes and she saw all of that happen there. your network also interviewed her. did you get the sense that the enormity of what she helped prevent has sunken in for her, that she understands what happens here? >> you know, i think she might be starting to because she's doing so many media interviews. when i spoke to her the first time the night before last, the night this news broke, she called after she got off her night shift at work at 10:30 central time. she was so flabbergasted that a media member called her. i said, do you realize what you might have done here? a lot of people are calling her a hero in southeastern

minnesota. she didn't see it that way. she saw something funny, she called 911. >> yeah. >> she probably is thinking differently about it today because so many people are calling her, coming to her, her friends are coming to her. she said she was washing dishes and she thought she did the right thing. >> she was being a good midwesterner and standing up and doing something. >> right. >> there are a lot of questions here, jana, about motive and what might be behind what drove this kid. >> you know, that's the million dollar question right now. what happened? why was he like this? i talked to his guitar teacher, his pastor, a couple of people in town. >> yeah. >> a lot of the things we're hearing we hear all too many times. he was quiet, shy. he had friends but just kind of kept to himself. very bright. >> good student? >> right. he was a senior in high school and people didn't know a lot about him. no red flags. no disciplinary actions at school, but the thing we have to

remember here is one of the things that the police found that this young man told them about was 180 pages in a journal where he wrote in detail about what he was going to do, the ammunition he had, the bombs he tried, the bombs that failed, the bombs that succeeded. so he has all that information written down somewhere. >> janna, in the 180 pages i know you haven't seen necessarily all those words and all those paiges, but what's th most alarming about the story or what you've learned about him through the journal or the other reporting? >> you know, it's the little things you hear about while you're out on a story that sneak up on you. for example, neighbors talk about in his front yard there's this large tree that he would often be throwing knives at or chipping away at every day. obviously that journal. and just the detail he went into and the bombs that he practiced with, for lack of a better word, explosive devices. >> right. >> back in march he set them off at a church, at a playground, at the school softball fields, just trying to perfect them.

he told police from what they're telling us all of that in his initial interview and then he wrote it all down, exactly what formulas could be the most lethal. so he had a plan and action. >> jana schortle, kare. thank you for the latest. really appreciate it. >> you bet. >> now to the economy and the april jobs report which found that the unemployment rate fell to the lowest level and nearly 300,000 new jobs are added. there are no victory laps just yet. joining me is kentucky democrat john yarmouth. good to see you. >> thanks, richard. >> would you call this recovery? >> i think there's every bit of evidence that things are getting much better. it's derby weekend here. >> evidently you're already ready. you're already celebrating, huh? >> we party -- we party for days and days and days. certainly it's a recovery.

we've been in one. the problem is it hasn't reached everybody. one of the things we're still fighting for is an extension of unemployment insurance benefits for the long-term unemployed because one of the problems we have is that many, many people, particularly those in kind of the 58-year-old, 60-year-old category aren't going to be able to re-enter the work force. so we still have these pockets of hard core unemployment we have to deal with. >> right. >> i think the signs are very, very good. >> yeah. >> this is wonderful news for overall. >> congressmen, very interesting, james carville put out a note, strategy basically for democrats saying, do not use the words, recovery. when you look at that sort of strategy directive, how might over embracing these good numbers hurt democrats who are vulnerable right now going through re-election processes? >> well, i think we have to continue to talk about the inequity in income, pay

disparity between men and women, raising the minimum wage because those are things that really resonate with the american people. so i don't think we've focused too much on the overall economy and whether it's good or bad. i think james is right in that respect. >> why though? why might it hurt those that are vulnerable? >> well, i think because you're trying to persuade movable voters now and those people either feel the economy is good or bad. you don't really need to tell them how it is because everybody is dealing with their personal situation and you run the risk there of alienating people of saying, oh, things are great. >> and it's not. >> and they say it's not great for me. >> what does this report mean for keystone which has been hotly debated in months. does it mitigate pressure especially the energy states that will be affected by this? >> i think a little bit. but you know, my opinion of keystone is it's not really about keystone. it's a proexy issue for everything else.

the substance of the keystone debate, this is all about whether you're for the administration or against the administration. >> not about jobs is what you're saying? >> yeah. and whether you're for the environment or not about the environment or not for the environment. it's really not about the keystone pipeline. i think that's kind of the substance of that issue has been lost. >> so talking about the environment, talking about energy, the mcconnell grime race heating up. the national journal headline saying this, republicans forcing lundergan grimes to choose. is she vulnerable for supporting the energy industry at home while accepting donations from liberal and environmental groups? >> i don't think so because people who are on the environmental side of the ledger, and i count myself as one of them, a lot of allyson's

donors are strong environmentalists, they know she's a lot better than mitch mcconnell. they know in that particular case the issue is not whether it's allyson grimes or mitch mcconnell, it's whether republicans control the senate and mitch mcconnell is their leader. that is a devastating scenario for environmentalists. ultimately as many tea party people will vote for mitch though they're not for him, the environmentalists will vote for allyson because they understand the contrast. >> i want to talk about your environment, your voice and the derby. that's the environment. >> it is. >> a lot of good energy there. california chrome favored in the race. i'm not going to hide my bias, my friend. i'm from the golden state. where are you putting your money? >> as i've told everybody, i don't see one reason to bet

against him. he had an impressive victory in the santa anita derby. on paper he's the horse to beat. given all of that, the kentucky derby with 19 horses is always about racing luck. it's more about racing luck than it is pedigree. anything can happen. if you're looking at the charts and past performances and you say, which is the horse to beat, it's california chrome. >> i see that you've legislated good weather there. we had live pictures of the warmups this morning. >> oh, yeah. >> enjoy it. thank you so much, congressman. appreciate your time. >> thanks, richard. happy derby to everybody. it's called the most exciting two minutes that we were just talking about in sports, and it all happens here. we'll go there in just a second. , liquid muscle, that lifts and cleans tough grease with less scrubbing. it's a liquid gel, so it's less watery and cleans more. and its cap stops by itself so almost nothing's wasted. ♪

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we have a personalized legal solution that's right for you. with easy step-by-step guidance, we're here to help you turn your dream into a reality. start your business today with legalzoom. later today there will be an organized stampede in the state of kentucky, at least before the first turn. 19 horses will spring from the starting gate at the annual kentucky derby, america's greatest horse race. the morning line as i have been

saying, california chrome, the favorite with 5-2 odds. track conditions for the race are critical there. nbc meteorologist dylan dreyer taking the temperature at churchill downs with the weather at the track. oh, my god, dylan, you better take some antibiotics. there's something growing out of your head. >> richard, if you take the temperature from the top of my hat it's much colder than where i am standing. we're going for height on the hat. we're at churchill downs and some of the horses that have been running behind me are the horses that will be in the actual derby later on today. vickers in trouble came by. now all eyes, of course, are on the weather. it really plays a huge role in which horse has the better advantage here, and we are going to see ideal conditions, both for the horses and for the fans. we should be seeing partly

cloudy skies, temperatures about 70 to 75 degrees. so it will be a dry track. last year conditions were pretty miserable. it started off with a drizzle and then we had the heavier rain. it rains at about 48% of the 139 kentucky derbys we've had so far. this is the 140th running of the kentucky derby. so the horses are out. they're getting warmed up. it's a little chilly right now because we did have clear skies earlier on. we started off the day in the mid 40s. as the sun comes out temperatures will warm up. a dry track for today's race. it's going to be a lot of fun later on today, richard. >> anybody on the infield. any revelers yet? >> not where i'm standing. i'm sure they're still sleeping off last night. they'll be back for more later on. >> that's the way it works. all right. our walking empire state building there, dylan dreyer. what a hat she has on today. thank you so much. you can witness the run for the roses on nbc today with live

pre-race coverage beginning at noon eastern on the nbc sports network at 4:00 p.m. eastern on nbc. embattled l.a. clippers owner donald sterling reportedly vowing to sue the nba if it tries to take his team away, but can he win? did you get my e-mail? [ man ] i did. so, what'd you think of the house? did you see the school rating?

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do they empower the league to force him to sell? >> donald steriling is going to have to sell the team. the question is whether he has any potential to actually keep the team in terms of can he actually keep the team under his family umbrella. i think that the nba right now they can force him out, they are going to force him out. they met yesterday or thursday to actually vote in terms o of getting this. they voted him out. now donald sterling will have to

appeal. he will have five days to appeal and go from there and they will have to show the evidence to get him out. >> so you're saying the bylaws empower him to do that. then if he says i'm going to take this into a public court, public court of law here, what does that scenario look like for him? >> he's going to have to file a breach of contract claim against the franchise agreement that he's also going to have to file an antitrust claim in state and federal court and then if he really wants to drag had out, he could potentially divorce his estranged wife because the clippers are actually held in a family trust, which could drag this out for years. >> if he divorces his estranged wife or transfers ownership to his wife or son-in-law, does that save him? >> it could have him have an interest in the team potentially. >> indirectly. >> yeah.

so that he could pretty much be able to say, you know what, you may have won, but you didn't win because i still have some type of influence on the team. >> he's known for his litigiousness. some say this could go on for years. will this probably go that way, years? >> he's a billionaire, 100%. unless he gets an unbelievable price in terms of when they do the force sale, unless he's like, i'm done, i see this going on for a very long time. >> one of the questions that might be out there, does him dragging this out that many years hurt the nba like, let's say, mlb steroid scandal or would this stay local in los angeles? >> this is going to be huge. this is going to be something the players could boycott if they don't want to play for the owner. if it turns into major legal

battle president nba will lose money off him keeping the team. >> thank you so much for your perspective. that wraps up this hour. straight ahead. more smart political talk with steve kornacki. ng take your mar. ♪ [ female announcer ] one drop of ultra dawn has twice the everyday grease cleaning ingredients of one drop of the leading non-concentrated brand... ♪ [ crowd cheering ] ...to clean 2x more greasy dishes. dawn does more. so it's not a chore.

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